(THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA) A wide-ranging coalition announced Tuesday it has collected 100,000 petition signatures in its effort to ask voters in 2016 to allow businesses and property owners to sell limited amounts of solar energy.

The coalition will need to have nearly 70,000 signatures of registered Florida voters verified by local supervisors of election before the state Supreme Court will review the validity of the proposed ballot language.

As of Tuesday, 1,576 signatures had been found valid, according to the state Division of Elections.

If the Supreme Court approves the ballot language, the coalition would need to collect an overall total of 683,149 signatures to get on the November 2016 ballot.

The amendment, in part, would allow businesses to generate and sell up to two megawatts of power to customers on the same or neighboring properties.

The coalition has estimated that the two-megawatt total would cover the daily use of a typical Wal-Mart.

The coalition has estimated that it might have to raise $8 million to $10 million to counter anticipated opposition from large power companies.